MONTPELIER- The Vermont Department of Corrections' transitional housing program missed service plans for many ex-inmates, had inadequate reporting by service providers and lacked measures on whether public safety is being improved, according to a state auditor's report issued Wednesday.

Auditor Doug Hoffer's office found that the nonprofit agencies running the programs "often did not have plans for offenders that specified the services they needed," adding that "those plans that did exist were not approved by probation and parole officers as required by the DOC."

"DOC's program management was ineffective in this area, and there were no consequences for grantees that failed to develop these plans," Hoffer said in a statement.

He added that nine of the 25 programs "reported inaccurate or unsupported data to the DOC," without guidance from the department on what proper documentation should look like.

On the overall goals of improving public safety and reducing recidivism — the commission of new crimes by released offenders — Hoffer said the DOC had begun to collect data on how well the programs reintegrate offenders into communities. But he added, "the department has not yet developed the necessary measures to monitor progress on public safety and recidivism goals."

In fiscal 2014, which ended last June 30, the state distributed nearly $6 million in grants to transitional housing providers for about 1,000 offenders, Hoffer said. The number of people served by the program grew by 59 percent from 2010 to 2014, and its costs grew by 157 percent, the auditor said.

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Vermont State Auditor Doug Hoffer(Photo: Free Press file)

Derek Miodownik, community and restorative justice executive with the Corrections Department, said two main factors had led to costs growing nearly two and a half times as fast as the population served: the increasing complexity of cases, with inmates emerging with substance abuse and other problems; and the rising costs of rental housing in Vermont.

Corrections Commissioner Andrew Pallito did not reply immediately to messages left at his office seeking comment. He did supply an extensive response in a letter to Hoffer, which was included in the auditor's report.

"The Department of Corrections agrees with the overall need for improved oversight for the transitional housing program, as well as the general conclusions corresponding to each of the three audit objectives," Pallito wrote.

Pallito also wrote that the department had made and was continuing to work on several improvements likely to address the auditor's concerns. He said there already was strong communications between field staff in Corrections' probation and parole division with the housing programs. He said there were quarterly and monthly meetings between probation and parole officers and the housing providers, in addition to "a tremendous amount of regulator contact" and a "constant flow of information."

"This work does not always lend itself to being easily document and outcome measured, and those are challenges to which DOC must certainly rise," he wrote.